To save the
northern spotted owl, the U.S. government is planning
to... kill nearly 500,000 other owls? This
makes no sense at all!
Barred owls are beautiful,
intelligent, and fascinating creatures. Yet the U.S.
government is blaming them for massive population
declines with northern spotted owls. Its solution to the
looming extinction crisis for northern spotted owls is
to slaughter innocent barred owls, including in
protected areas like national parks.
This
ridiculous and cruel plan won't address the root
problems at all. Research shows that the true threats
to owl populations are primarily from years and years of
industrial logging. This human activity has
decimated birds' habitat and intensely constrained the
resources they need to survive. Instead
of taking accountability for humans' role in this
extinction risk, the government is scapegoating another
wildlife species.
As if this
culling program wasn't already bad enough, it's also
wildly expensive. Killing nearly a half a million barred
owls will cost over $1 billion dollars of taxpayer
money, or roughly $3,000 per owl killed.
This
plan sets a dangerous precedent. If allowed to move
forward, this would mark the largest bird cull in U.S.
history. Slaughtering some animals to allegedly help
others is not conservation.
Authorities should
take seriously the actual risks posed to the
northern spotted owl and protect it from extinction.
There are much more effective, humane, and inexpensive
ways to actually do that. It's time for the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to abandon this horrendous plan.
Sign the petition now if you agree!
